Re-introducing… Pocklington-raised comedian Richard Herring and his revitalised Talking Cock show

THERE are lots of different ones of various sizes, says Talking Cock stand-up Richard Herring.

Relax, he is referring to the variety of Yorkshire venues on his radar in the days ahead, not offering an assessment of northern man’s manhood.

Richard will be performing his tenth anniversary update of his “exposé of the truth about men and their flutes of love” at Pocklington Arts Centre tomorrow; the Grand Opera House, York, on Saturday; Leeds City Varieties on Sunday; and Harrogate Theatre on Monday.

“It’s particularly nice to be doing Pocklington after a few years as it’s my home turf from my childhood. Probably 2006 or 2007 was the last time I played there,” says the son of a former Pocklington School teacher.

Why resurrect Talking Cock, Richard? “Christ On A Bike and this one were my two early shows and neither of them got on to DVD,” he says. “I’ve been touring with various shows for 12 years, and now there are lots of new fans who never saw this stuff, as audiences have gradually gone up from 50 to 300 per show over those years.

“I’ve already toured a second version of Christ On A Bike, which was better than the first one, and now it’s on DVD too.

“Taking Talking Cock out again also gives me breathing space not to have to write a new show until later this year.”

As he did a decade ago, Richard has used rigorous research and two anonymous Internet questionnaires, one for men the other for women, to help to prepare Talking Cock, The Second Coming.

“It’s interesting that statistics-wise, results haven’t really changed from ten years ago,” he says. “The reason this show works is that people expect it to be macho and in your face but I didn’t want to show that. I wanted to show the vulnerability in men. Women’s issues have moved forward in those ten years, to the point where The Vagina Monologues now seems dated, whereas men’s vulnerabilities have not moved on.

“Things aren’t going to change as in many ways we may have become more prudish. People have become much more conscious of being offended, but without the penis, none of us would be here, and yet we still have this Victorian attitude not to be able to discuss it.”

Richard notes how in 2002, when he first presented Talking Cock, there was no problem with the title but now, “we’re having to put asterisks on it”.

Nevertheless, he is upbeat about the reactivated show’s impact. “What I really like about redoing this show is realising how I’ve come on as a comedian in eight years of solid touring and 12 years of stand-up,” he says.

“Now I get so much out of performing and trying to perfect the script and my delivery. It’s now much more relaxed rather than a lecture, and I’m sure the show will change over the coming gigs too.

“It also helps that the audiences are now bigger; it’s much easier than when you’re playing to just 50.”

How has Richard changed in the intervening years between the two Talking Cock shows? “I think that is an issue, being 35 then and 45 now; the difference in enthusiasm and performance from before,” he says.

“I’m a married man now; I wasn’t back then, and you definitely notice the changes, your libido settling down. At 35, I was thinking I could do whatever I wanted, which was great but also awful.

“Now I’ve settled down, whereas before it was more of an encumbrance being such an idiot when your libido is running riot.

“You notice those changes; you become more rational and you realise most of the decisions you made on the basis of your penis were wrong. But this is what life is about; you realise things only when you get to a different place in your life.”

Post-tour, Richard will turn his attention to his 2013 Edinburgh Fringe show. “I think I’m going to tackle death next, as I like to take on the big subjects and though I’ve done religion [Christ On a Bike] and politics [Hitler Moustache], I haven’t done death yet, so it might be called Richard Herring Tackles Death,” he says.

“What’s nice is that every year I can take a look at something and each show will be different in style. What Is Love Anyway was very personal; Talking Cock is more general, and with death, I think it could be quite a theatrical show, though I haven’t really started writing it yet.”

• For tickets for Talking Cock, The Second Coming, phone 01759 301547 (Pocklington); 0844 871 3024 (York); 0845 644 1881 (Leeds); 01423 502116 (Harrogate).